Charles Edwards

Assistant News Director/Reporter

Charles Edwards is the Assistant News Director for 90.1 FM WABE. As a reporter, he covers a variety of topics and issues. However, he specializes in politics and closely covers Atlanta City Hall and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.

Charles received a B.A. is Mass Media Arts from Clark Atlanta University in 2002. However, his reporting experience dates back to 2000.

His resume includes covering the state legislature, live election night coverage, and award winning health care reporting. In 2005, Charles was the recipient of a 2005 National Public Radio reporting fellowship. As a reporter on NPR’s National Desk, Charles covered the White House, the U.S. Congress, Arlington National Cemetery and the Washington Nationals among other stories.

Mon November 3, 2014

Winter is officially about a month away. Early forecasts show another active winter is in store that could be colder and wetter than normal. Last winter, two major snow and ice storms brought Metro Atlanta to a standstill. A lot of people were mad at local and state officials for not preparing enough for the first storm.

After the second storm, a state task force created by Governor Nathan Deal made 21 recommendations to prepare for future winter storms. One recommendation near the top of the list was for the state to hire a meteorologist.

Politics

5:50 pm

Mon October 27, 2014

Tuesday, Nov. 4 is Election Day. Three top races are U.S. Senate, Governor and State Schools Superintendent. WABE has interviewed the candidates in those races.

In the State Schools Superintendent race, Richard Woods is the Republican candidate.

In South Georgia’s Irwin County school system, Woods has been a principal and curriculum director for Kindergarten through fifth grade. But, he spent most of his 22 years there as a high school social studies teacher.

Health & Science

7:06 am

Mon September 15, 2014

President Barack Obama will be in Atlanta Tuesday. He’ll meet with officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A CDC spokeswoman says the President’s meeting will focus on enterovirus and the CDC’s response to the Ebola outbreak. The announced visit comes after President Obama mentioned Ebola last week at the end of an address focused mostly on the terror group ISIS.

“It is America,” said President Obama. “Our scientists, our doctors, our knowhow that can help contain and cure the outbreak of Ebola.”

This has been an extremely difficult time for our family. We will never be able to answer the question of why this tragedy occurred. In addition to ourselves, the lives of two other families have been terribly impacted by the events that transpired last Friday morning.

Jury selection has always been scheduled for April 28th. But today, Hall’s attorneys asked Fulton County Superior Court Judge Judge Jerry Baxter to delay the trial until after the conclusion of Hall’s current medical regimen.

In an affidavit, an oncologist for Dr. Hall said the former Superintendent has stage 4 breast cancer. The oncologist also said that cancer is not curable but treatable.

Tue March 25, 2014

An optical-fiber cable is a bundle of optical-fiber wires that connect your home to an individual wire from an existing cable. An optical-fiber wire is made with transparent flexible glass called silica. It’s slightly thicker than a human hair. The fibers act as “light pipes” by quickly beaming laser light from one end of the cable to the other.

The National Weather Service and Governor Deal are urging people in Metro Atlanta to start preparing now for the possibility of severe weather this week. Snow and ice could come to the region just two weeks after a snow and ice storm froze Metro Atlanta. Deal also wants drivers to be off the roads by Monday night so the state can prepare the highways. In addition, the Governor wants tractor trailer drivers to seek alternate routes outside of Interstate 285.

And some in one Metro Atlanta county say they see things are getting better.

Mark McCirchum is a respiratory therapist. He lives in Oxford. The Newton County city is about 35 miles east of Atlanta. He says his perspective on the local economy there has changed.

“From 2008 up until maybe last year, the housing and business development just came to a standstill,” said McCirchum. “Now, you’re starting to old businesses being occupied by new businesses but actually new buildings going up.”

Louis Miller yesterday announced his retirement from the position at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Ben DeCosta left as airport general manger in 2010. DeCosta announced his departure not too long after Reed first won election in 2009. Afterwards, a search committee recommended Miller. Miller says, at that time, he planned to be General Manager for at least four years.

Developing

6:28 pm

Tue November 19, 2013

Tonight, Cobb County government released the memorandum of understanding the Cobb County Commission has reached with the Atlanta Braves for the team’s proposed stadium near the intersection of I-75 and I-285 in Cobb County.

The MOU, as it’s referred to by government officials, details the proposed financial agreement between the county and the baseball team.

Sports

10:46 am

Mon November 11, 2013

Former Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner, whom the current Turner Field is named after, says he hopes the Braves, “will be happy in their new location and continue their winning ways.” Also in his statement, Turner has not been involved with the team’s decision making since 2001.

Election 2013

3:10 pm

Tue November 5, 2013

Elections are taking place across metro Atlanta today. Depending on where you live, you may vote for a mayor, a city counselor, a school board, or all three. For a look at these races, their implications and what's next, City Cafe's Kate Sweeney sat down with WABE interim news director Charles Edwards.

7:27 am

Thu October 17, 2013

President Obama Wednesday signed into law a plan approved by Congress to reopen the federal government and raise the federal government’s debt ceiling.

The votes by first the U.S. Senate and then the U.S. House came after days federal workers being furloughed and just before the federal government would have run out of money to satisfy its financial obligations.

Politics

5:19 pm

Sat August 31, 2013

President Obama this afternoon said he is seeking authorization from Congress to use action against Syria. Shortly after the President’s address, both of Georgia’s Republican U.S. Senators released statements, in which they appear ready to vote in favor of taking action against Syria.

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson said he supports the use of military action in Syria.

U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss said the U.S. must respond.

Chambliss also said he believes the evidence is clear the President’s ‘red-line’ was crossed long ago.

1:49 pm

Sat August 31, 2013

In a special speech from The White House, President Obama this afternoon continued to make his argument in support of the U.S. taking action in Syria.

Despite what he described as his belief in Presidential power to take action, he said he's asked the U.S. House and Senate to debate whether the nation should take action in Syria and vote on the matter. The President said he's made that request to House and Senate leaders this afternoon. Debate could begin on September 9th when Congress returns from recess or sooner.

WABE News

12:50 pm

Wed August 7, 2013

An official with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says the department is taking aggressive action after deaths at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. The official made those comments today during a packed field hearing held by U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson at Georgia State University.

The VA official says the action includes holding employees accountable. The Veterans Affairs department said at least two employees were allowed to retire following the deaths at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.

Sara Copelin-Wood and Pam Speaks are two of the people Governor Deal suspended from the DeKalb County School Board earlier this year.

Today, Governor Deal said an administrative law judge has upheld the suspensions.

Both Copelin-Wood and Speaks petitioned for reinstatement to the offices they were elected to hold.

But, according to an email Deal’s office sent out today, the administrative law judge ruled both Copelin-Wood and Speaks failed to show their presence on DeKalb’s school board would improve the school system’s chances to regain full accreditation.

So, how will this portion of Piedmont Park return from brown to green?

“Whenever we have a festival in the park, the organizer of the festival is responsible for restoring the park back to the condition in which it started,” said Atlanta Parks and Recreation Commissioner George Dusenbury.

Atlanta Sounds: Beef the Pig

12:46 pm

Wed June 26, 2013

Beef is a pot bellied pig. After a serious car accident his owner bought the pig as part of his own rehabilitation. He tells WABE's Charles Edwards that when you have a near death experience your mind wanders into less than pleasant things and Beef was a good distraction. Since the pig had to be taken care of the pig did more for his owner than his owner did for the pig. Now they're best friends. Beef turned five on December 20th 2008.

In a five-to-four ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court today struck down a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The provision, known as Section 4, has applied to all of seven states (including Georgia) and parts of four other states. The states under Section 4, in their history, either used tests or devices as prerequisites for voting and/or had low voter registration or turnout in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Sam Williams today said he’ll retire as President of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber’s primary focus has been attracting companies to the area and pushing companies already here to expand. Williams has been Chamber President since December 1996. In a statement, the Chamber says more than 700 companies were recruited to Metro Atlanta under Williams’ leadership. The Chamber has also been heavily involved in governmental affairs on the local and state level.